Ten Game-Changing Tech Trends for 2013

Ten Game-Changing Tech Trends for 2013

1. Next Big ThingThe Internet of Things will prove to be the most disruptive technology since the Web itself, resulting in as many as 100 billion Internet-connected objects by 2020.

This is the time of year when an abundance of predictions lists come out. Some stand out from the crowd, including the following 10 predictions from the IEEE Computer Society, a respected community for technology leaders. The predictions reveal fresh, forward-thinking perspectives, many of which speak directly to future career positioning that you may want to consider. Particularly intriguing is the continuing development of what's commonly called the "Internet of Things." Definitions of this concept vary, but they essentially speak to the de-emphasis of online human interaction in favor of an integrated, global, self-configurating infrastructure in which physical and virtual "things" can interact and communicate among themselves to help organizations with business, information and social strategy functions. Along with other predictions here, the Internet of Things speaks to a universal need to find better ways to acquire data and information, and to maximize their value. "The promise for the coming years is not just technology," said David Alan Grier, president elect of the IEEE Computer Society, "but technology and data: how we get data from the right sources and get it to the right people in the right forms. That is the big issue that engages many of our members."